SATURDAY was a surreal experience that started off with me having a pint with Timmy Mallett as I sponsored the match in the clubhouse.

Timmy was a very nice bloke and after that chat the day ended with yet another pint, this time in the Crown with the Oxford manager Chris Wilder talking about his time at Halifax.

The post-match chat with Chris and several of his players was mostly about how lucky we as Stanley fans were to have John Coleman and Jimmy Bell and did we think the club would sell Jimmy Ryan in the summer!

Oxford had done their homework on us and it has to be said, despite their pleasant manner after the game, during the 90 minutes they kicked lumps out of the Reds to stop our flowing style of play.

That said, we had plenty of opportunities to break the stalemate but it just wasn’t our day.

Their keeper had a stinker and will class his clean sheet as one of the luckiest he will ever gain.

Things are still tight at the top with several other results going our way on Saturday.

We are still joint fifth, albeit currently sitting outside the play-off positions in eighth.

Bradford make the trip to the Crown Ground at the weekend and with only four games remaining I think we will need to win three of them to secure a top seven finish.

I urge all Stanley fans to bring a mate or two to the game on Saturday.

With the club’s ownership all sorted and the team flying high, now is the time for us as fans to pull out all the stops.

I must end by congratulating Jimmy Ryan for his selection in the League Two team of the season.

He is a terrific player and he deserves all the accolades that come his way.